ADAPPT is a project that operated from 2009 to 2013 and is now officially over. A new project called Options is now taking over from where ADAPPT left off. Please see the Options website at http://projects.nri.org/options

ADAPPT was supported by a European Union grant through the ACP Science and Technology Programme to establish a network of scientists and agricultural technicians, from NGOs, agricultural institutes, ministries and universities from Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe and the United Kingdom with a focus on pesticidal plants* as environmentally benign and safer alternatives to synthetic pesticides. The specific partners are listed on the Partners page of this website. ADAPPT will:

1. Establish an intra-African network with linkages to international networks,
2. Build capacity to assess research needs to facilitate the formulation and implementation of research policies associated with pesticidal plants and to prepare and submit project proposals for new funding opportunities, and
3. Enhance the research capacity and incentive of the network partners and so increase the quality and impact of research results and disseminated outputs.

This action will address Millennium Development Goals 1, 7 and 8 by targeting poverty eradication at the small-scale farming level, building and enhancing strong scientific and technological capacity in agriculture, chemistry, biodiversity conservation, and plant physiology. This will support research, development and innovation in the ACP region, and enable the identification and formulation of activities or policies that are critical to sustainable development related to habitat conservation, pesticide regulations, indigenous knowledge and implementing the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.

Other pages on this website will provide updates of project's progress as well as provide information on the optimal use of pesticidal plants, particularly in dryland habitats across Africa. Background information about pesticidal plants and links to other important sources of information on plants used for their pesticidal properties can also be found here.

The First International Conference on Pesticidal Plants
The 1st ICPP took place over the 21st to 24th January 2013 was considered a great success. Details about the conference are available on the Conference page.

*This project considers pesticidal plants (a.k.a. botanical pesticides, ethno-botanicals) to be all plant materials (e.g., roots, leaves, seeds, flowers etc.) that require only rudimentary preparation (e.g., powdered, water extracted) which farmers can use to reduce field crop damage, stored product losses and livestock mortality/morbidity.

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Farmers in Malawi preparing extracts of botanical pesticides for spraying on to their vegetable crops.

Farmers in Ghana making choices on which pesticidal plants they prefer to use for protecting their stored maize crops.